Uber Technologies Inc has filed paperwork for its highly anticipated initial public offering, as per three people aware of the matter. If this report is indeed true then this will go down as an important milestone for one of the most followed and reputed global startups.
The ride-hailing giant filed the confidential paperwork on Thursday, according to one source, to lock horns with its smaller rival Lyft, which also filed the confidential paperwork for IPO almost on the same day. This potentially means that Uber may not be patient enough to wait for second half of the next year to launch its IPO. Instead it may now plan to go public well before its rival Lyft does.
Uber’s valuation during its last funding round was nearly $76 bn and the silicon valley company is aiming for a valuation of nearly 120 bn during its IPO. Going by the sheer valuation, this IPO is already been considered as one of the largest IPOs filed by a tech company in recent times. In all likelihood, it will also pave way for strings of IPOs by popular tech companies including Airbnb.
But it still won’t be that easy for Uber
No withstanding the excessive hype, Uber faces the stiff challenge of overcoming the concerns of the investment community well before its IPO hits the market. The investor’s concerns are not unwarranted either. Despite the glamorous tag of being the world’s most valued startup, Uber is still far from being a standalone profitable company.
In a way Uber’s IPO will taste investor’s appetite for a company that at present is making considerable losses. The ride-hailing giant’s problems, however, are not restricted only to its balance sheet. The glamorous startup also has had series of run up against regulators in several countries and also faced workplace harassment issues.
Nonetheless, today Uber is in a much better position than it was a year before. This is mostly thanks to the efforts of the newly hired CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who replaced the then controversial CEO Travis Kalanick almost a year ago.
One of the important decisions taken under Khosrowshahi was Uber’s exit from the Southeast Asian market earlier this year, after having sold the stake to the regional player Grab.
Here is look at Uber’s recent numbers
Uber’s loss reportedly touched $1.07 billion after it announced the third quarter results last month. However, the gross booking stood at $12.7 billion, which certainly reflects company’s enormous scale. Its revenue also increased by 5% to reach $2.95, while the booking grew by 6% during the quarter.
UberEat, on the other hand, managed to more than double its gross bookings over the last one year. This was the first time that Uber had revealed the numbers of its food delivery business.